Hi, in my 4 years of having a handmade makeup brand I’ve never gotten a chargeback, so any advice would be helpful.
i recently had a customer purchase 2 items which she said were received broken. I offered her the option of a refund or replacement. She chose a replacement. I re-handmade the makeup items and re-shipped them at my expense.
Her friend contacted me on Instagram and said the products were not up to her expectations and she just didn’t like them. She said the original customer purchased the original items that were received broken, that I replaced-with HER money. She wanted a refund. I explained that a refund was initially on the table but the customer..ER, her friend..chose a replacement, so Since I lost money making the items twice and shipping them twice, a refund would not be possible. She continued to insult my products and me and then She threatened me with a chargeback.
is that possible even when I replaced the items? I kind of feel like I’m being scammed and maybe she ain’t her friend wanted the products twice..for free.
I know it can be stressful to handle situations like this, and I want to commend you for the level of service you’ve provided so far. It was thoughtful of you to offer the option of a refund or replacement.
I’m curious to know whether you’ve received reports of broken product before. Do you ask customers to provide a photo evidence with their claim? Businesses processing a high volume of orders might not bother with this step in the interest of saving time, but I’ve frequently seen this noted in the refund/exchange policies for small businesses, and I think it’s totally fair of you to ask that of your customers. Not only would this help you confirm whether the refund/replacement request is valid, but it could help you identify whether there is a recurring issue with product or order packaging.
In this particular case, it sounds like the customer purchased a gift for their friend. I would ask the gift recipient to contact you via email with details of any product concerns. If you have a customer service email address, it’s better to keep communication there so you can save it, rather than on Instagram where it might be deleted.
I don’t believe it’s possible for the gift recipient to file a chargeback, since it can only be processed through the original payment method. If you’re concerned that the original customer might file a chargeback, I recommend reviewing these documents to make sure you’re prepared:
The original customer could potentially file a chargeback marked as Product unacceptable if they felt the product was damaged or not as described. This section of the chargebacks and inquiries document outlines the evidence you’ll need to provide if a chargeback is filed under that reason.
Please let me know if you have any other questions about how to proceed with this.